The list of academic options at Oakland University is constantly
growing. OU currently offers more than 120 undergraduate degrees
and more than 120 graduate and certificate options. Students have
the opportunity to participate in high-level research as early as
their freshman year.

From important registration reminders to daily events, stay focused on the
finish line while getting the most out of your educational experience.
More than 200 active student organizations take learning to a new level,
while student service offices are here to help you succeed.

Over 100,000 alumni proudly call OU their alma mater. Upon graduation, you will
automatically be welcomed as a member of Oakland University's very active Alumni
Association. Alumni stay connected through networking, volunteering and mentorship
programs.

Nearly half a million people visit campus each year to explore OU's cultural icons,
such as the home to OU's founder, our very own National Historic Landmark. Be
inspired by guest speakers from around the world, or awed by artwork, student,
faculty and guest performances.

Your gift matters! Contributions from alumni and friends create
opportunities that prepare Oakland University students to be leaders.
Support the OU Fund (the area of greatest need), scholarships, athletics,
the library, Meadow Brook Hall, or one of the hundreds of other areas that
make Oakland unique.

The Grizzlies' growing Division I athletics program is a member of the Horizon
League, one of the NCAA's top performing leagues. Athletes can also be found in
dozens of club and intramural sports, or playing recreational games of disc or
ball golf on one of OU's courses.

News Archive

For more than half a century, Dr. Jane Goodall has stood as an internationally prominent primatologist and anthropologist, as well as the world’s foremost expert on chimpanzees. In the past several decades she has traveled across continents speaking and working on behalf of wildlife, and is set to bring her message to Oakland University.

The event, "An Evening with Dr. Jane Goodall," will begin at 7 p.m. today, Wednesday, March 27, in the O’rena on Oakland’s campus. Dr. Goodall will share her experiences and speak on “Sowing the Seeds of Hope.”

The event is sold out. The O'rena Box Office will open at 5 p.m. to pick up "will call" tickets. No tickets will be for sale at the O'rena, only "will call" tickets reserved or purchased through the CSA Service Window will be available to pick up. The program begins at 7 p.m.

Dr. Goodall's career is a storied one. She first arrived in the African continent as a young girl in 1960, accompanied by her mother. Almost immediately, she met the famed archaeologist and paleontologist Louis S. B. Leakey, who hired her as an assistant to study wild chimpanzees in Tanzania.

Dr. Goodall would spend the greater part of the next forty years at that site in Gombe National Park, and make several tremendous breakthroughs that would alter then-current scientific views on the nature of chimpanzees.

With global climate change, an ever-present energy crisis, and dwindling natural resources, the world is a very different place than it was when Dr. Goodall began her studies. Yet she still finds reasons for hope. In a letter on the Jane Goodall Institute’s website, the famed adventuress places her faith in the human brain, the indomitable human spirit, the resilience of nature, and the determination of young people.

Dr. Goodall’s impact and achievements can measured in many ways. She founded the Jane Goodall Institute in 1977, to contribute the preservation of great apes and their habitats through research and education, promote sustainable living in local communities, and to create a worldwide network of young people. The latter goal formed the building blocks of the “Roots and Shoots” organization, which was established with the help of 12 Tanzanian teenagers in 1991.

In 2002, she was named a UN Messenger of Peace. In 2004, Dr. Goodall was named a Dame of the British Empire, the female equivalent of knighthood, and in 2006, she received France’s highest recognition, the French Legion of Honor.

Dr. Goodall’s work has been honored with the Medal of Tanzania, the National Geographic Society’s Hubbard Medal, Japan’s prestigious Kyoto Prize, the Prince of Asturias Award for Technical and Scientific Research, the Benjamin Franklin Medal in Life Science, UNESCO Gold Medal Award, and the Gandhi/King Award for Nonviolence.

Dr. Goodall is the author of 14 nonfiction books on her research and experiences and 10 children’s books, many of which have been translated into dozens of languages, sold across several continents and earned numerous awards. To date, there are more than 18 films and documentaries about her work and life.

Dr. Jane Goodall's lecture is presented as part of the Varner Vitality Seminar Series, named in honor of Oakland's first chancellor, Durwood "Wood" Varner. This series aims to energize and sustain the highest academic and scholarly aspirations of the university community. Previous speakers include Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, former president of India, and Dr. Madeleine Albright, the U.S.’s first female Secretary of State.

The Varner Vitality lecture is sponsored by Academic Affairs, Student Life Lecture Board, and the Oakland University Alumni Association. For more information, or to request special assistance to attend this lecture, please contact the Center for Student Activities at (248) 370-2400.

Oakland University is a vibrant academic community with nearly 20,000 students and more than 265 academic degree programs. To learn more about programs, events, and achievements at OU, visit the news site at oakland.edu/newsatou and follow the news team on Twitter at @OaklandU_News.